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Last edited 15 Sep 2023

Construction industry statements and responses to RAAC crisis

1 Construction Leadership Council (CLC) establish RAAC technical expert panel
2 Construction Leadership and Industry Council (CLC / CIC) comments and statements
3 CIOB statement
4 IStructE statement
5 CIAT statement
6 RIBA's response
7 Related articles on Designing Buildings

[edit] Construction Leadership Council (CLC) establish RAAC technical expert panel

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC) has on September 6, 2023 offered its support to the UK Government and building owners to address the problems associated with the historic use of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

The CLC expects to deliver this support in two phases: an assessment of the current situation and risk levels, and then supporting the design and delivery of any required remediation programmes across the public sector estate.

The CLC will be establishing a technical expert panel from professional bodies across the sector, as well as industry experts. This will be co-ordinated by Graham Watts, one of the leaders of the CLC’s Building Safety workstream, to provide a single industry approach to the issue.

The work of the expert panel will be supported by a communication and external engagement group to ensure that accurate information and guidance is provided to the industry and building owners.

The technical expert panel will develop a plan to address some of the immediate support required, including the provision of temporary buildings, and the availability and competence of inspectors.

[edit] Construction Leadership and Industry Council (CLC / CIC) comments and statements

CLC Co-Chair Mark Reynolds said:

“The construction industry has a responsibility to ensure the safety and the confidence of the public in the buildings that are a part of the fabric of their daily lives.

“The CLC is working to co-ordinate a cross-sector response; marshalling technical expertise and industry capacity to support the Government and building owners to develop an effective programme to assist with prioritising and mitigating the risks; and developing plans to remediate buildings where required.”

CIC Chief Executive Graham Watts said:

“While we anticipate that the majority of buildings that contain RAAC will remain safe, there is an urgent need to identify and remedy any risks to the public. As an industry we will support the programme of expert assessment of structures, both public and private, to identify where RAAC has been used and to deal with it to make it safe.

“We will be setting up two groups to take this work forward A technical expert panel to co-ordinate our cross-industry response, as well as a communications group. We will be confirming the full membership of both groups shortly, and their work will start immediately. I want to also take this opportunity to offer my thanks for the number of companies and organisations that have proactively approached the CLC with offers of help and support”.

[edit] CIOB statement

In response to the issues surrounding Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC), which emerged in August this year, Eddie Tuttle, Director of Policy, Research and External Affairs at the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), said: “The CIOB has agreed to respond to the RAAC Crisis in collaboration with other industry bodies and we support the recent statement from the Construction Industry Council (CIC) and Construction Leadership Council (CLC) on the need for alignment across the construction industry.

“CIOB has joined a panel of technical experts to fully understand the impact of RAAC, to support the Government in its response, and to develop appropriate guidance that can be issued to the wider construction industry as well as impacted building owners.

“We also recognise that the emergence of RAAC showcases the pressing need for the creation and maintenance of the golden thread of information related to fire and structural safety of buildings.

“While this process is ongoing, anyone concerned by the potential impact of RAAC on their buildings should visit this website.”

[edit] IStructE statement

IStructE statement of Information on Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC)

RAAC is a building material used in some buildings to form roof planks, wall panels, and sometimes floor planks, between the mid-1950s and mid-1990s.

If properly designed, manufactured, in good condition and with good bearing, RAAC installations are considered safe. However, the panels can creep and deflect over time, and this can be exacerbated by water penetration. A more recent incident indicated that if they have insufficient bearing and their structural integrity is compromised, they can fracture and collapse with little or no warning.

We have issued guidance about RAAC to enable building managers and their consultants to manage the situation, established a RAAC working study group, and created a list of professionally qualified structural engineers (Chartered or Incorporated Members) who have declared their experience in providing technical solutions for managing RAAC planks.

Our advice, alongside that of Collaborative Reporting for Safer Structures UK (CROSS-UK), is that if a building owner or manager has a building from this period and is unsure of the form of construction, they should carry out an inspection and a risk assessment. If RAAC planks are present, their structural condition will need to be determined by a Chartered or Incorporated Structural Engineer. The IStructE has provided guidance on this investigation and assessment:

March 2022: Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) panels: Investigation and assessment

April 2023: Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) Investigation and Assessment – Further Guidance

Subject to the Chartered or Incorporated Structural Engineer’s findings, a process of ongoing monitoring and/or remedial propping or strengthening works may be needed. In some instances, it may be necessary to remove or replace RAAC planks.

We understand the government decision, as publicised on the 31 August, to advise school building operators to carefully manage areas where RAAC is present whilst these further actions are planned.

We continue to work proactively with stakeholders to help them understand and deal with the issue. We also support the continued inspection of buildings to determine the extent of RAAC within the public realm and manage the issues.

About RAAC and concrete

RAAC is a highly aerated, lightweight, concrete based material, with different material properties to conventional concrete. It was typically used in precast panels in walls, roofs and sometimes floors. Problems associated with older forms of the construction include high deflection, corrosion and spalling, and, where there is a low-end bearing, the possibility of sudden collapse due to cracking.

However, traditional concrete is a highly reliable material with high compressive strength, that when combined with steel reinforcement to become ‘reinforced concrete’, has the ability to form some of the world’s biggest and heaviest loaded structures ranging from high-rise buildings to bridges, dams, and nuclear power stations.

[edit] CIAT statement

In light of the recent government announcement that approximately 104 schools or "settings" in England have been found with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) and are set to be closed or disrupted, the Construction Industry Council (CIC), of which CIAT is a member has made the following statement:

"...CIC member bodies with expertise in this area are committed to working with government and building operators to identify those buildings where RAAC may be present, and to providing appropriate professional guidance on remedial actionto make the buildings and those who should be occupying them safe.

"The recent National Audit Office report gives an indication of the extent of the problem in schools and hospitals. We believe that 24 hospitals have been found to contain it and around 156 schools. It is present in some other forms of construction, but not prevalent. There appears to be no available data on other buildings."

The government has published information about RAAC in education settings here and about NHS buildings here.

[edit] RIBA's response

What is RAAC?

Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) is a lightweight, ‘bubbly’ form of concrete commonly used in construction between the 1950s to the mid-1990s. It is predominantly found as precast panels in roofs, floors and walls of public buildings, including schools. It has a life expectancy of around 30 years, which means that buildings constructed during this period, that have not been checked, are potentially at risk. Read our Professional Featureto find out more about the role of architects in the identification and remediation of RAAC.

What has led to the closure of public buildings?

The Government has been aware that public buildings contain RAAC since 1994, but started to monitor the condition of schools, specifically, containing RAAC following an incident in 2018. In the summer of 2023, following a Department for Education survey of schools to see whether they had identified any RAAC, launched the previous year, many were forced to close part or whole buildings to begin remediation work.

Do any RIBA buildings contain RAAC?

We have completed an initial audit of buildings with a RIBA presence, either used by our colleagues or to house our materials. We are not aware of any buildings at risk.

How has RIBA responded to the emerging crisis?

We campaign for a safer, fairer and sustainable built environment. This includes calling for action to improve existing public buildings where dangerous or substandard conditions are identified.

See our latest statements and media appearances:

5 September 2023: BBC London Evening News

4 September 2023: RIBA urges action on the condition of public buildings.

31 August 2023: RIBA responds to schools closing over shocking building safety fears

28 June 2023: RIBA responds to National Audit Office report on the condition of school buildings.

5 June 2023: Architects Journal – statement on hospital buildings .

23 May 2023: RIBA responds to funding for school repairs .

16 February 2023: The Guardian - Unions call for urgent action on England’s ‘dangerous’ school buildings: RIBA weighs in as seven unions write to Department for Education over structures at risk of collapse .

2 February 2023: Architects Journal – RIBA presses Government to publish survey of collapsing school buildings